Considerations on the Analysis of the Agrarian Reforms of 1921 and 1945, Respectively on the Cooperativization of Agriculture in Romania After 1949

Abstract

The issue of agricultural land expropriations has always been of particular importance in the political and legal sphere, since the cultivation of land was from ancient times the means of securing income, necessary both for the consolidation of power and for the defence of the country against the attacks of other peoples. Constitutional laws and Constitutions defended the right to private property, with more or less vigour, but the possibility for the state to expropriate for public utility was also present. The agrarian reforms, however, targeted large areas, vast categories of expropriated and of beneficiaries of expropriations, the constitutional guarantees regarding a fair and prior compensation in case of expropriation being applied with difficulties and delays or not at all. The importance of this research topic lies in contributing to a better understanding of agricultural land ownership issues in various historical contexts.